Christian Federation's Mangalore Team Provides Succour to Flood-affected People
Media Release
Mangalore, Oct 14: Under the leadership of the International Federation Karnataka Christian Associations (IFKCA), the team from the city visited the flood-affected areas of Raichur district in the talukas of Manvi and Sindhanur on October Monday October 12, to support the efforts of Fr Eric and Fr Maxim Jesuits and their team in Manvi. They have been working since the last seven years, in about 65 villages through their trust, ‘Centre for Non-Formal and Continuing Education’. They have several self –help groups (SHG) functioning under their guidance, spread over these villages. Through the SHGs of women, they have been able to spread literacy through kindergartens, adult education, training programmes for the women, medical services, youth groups and village hostels.
The most significant part of their mission has been a well established school for educating the Dalits and the marginalized children of various remote villages. This is a CBSE school for the Dalits, a rare privilege for these illiterate people, and a great challenge to educate the children from the cow-grazing background.
Some of the students and the visiting team members were surprised at the confidence with which the children spoke with them. They did not display any inhibitions in expressing themselves in English. The team found them happy and contented. The team was given to understand that these children were from the villages that have been badly affected by the floods. These children are supposed to go home during the holidays, but are not in a position to do so because of the miserable state to which their villages have been reduced to, because of the floods. They have lost their homes and all that their families owned and their people are forced to live by the the road sides, said Denis D'Silva.
The team learnt that floods came most unexpectedly and almost inundated the entire area overnight, and forced the people to rush out of their small huts with whatever they could lay their hands on, as they knew they cound never recover what they lost in the floods. The force of the gushing flood water was terrifying and the intensity of floods was the greatest in the last 50 years. The team reached Pannur and looked at the trail of destruction and the piteous state of the villages, the sight of which brought a feeling of shock and sadness among the team members. They saw dilapidated houses, and several houses that had vanished because they had been washed away by the ravaging floods. The level of water had risen above the main door of the church and the compound walls were destroyed by the force of the current.
The team also visited the neighbouring village of Hulugunchi, which provided a shocking sight. All the houses in the village had crashed to the ground. The villagers had no clothes to change to for five days, no soap, no comb, no books, and no privacy. All these people were living on the road side with hardly anything to cover themselves from the sun and the rain. The team saw women and children in pain and agony with a minimum of clothing and having fully surrendered themselves to the helpless situation. Dead, decomposed carcasses of the cattle strewn around the villages left a sickening stench in the air. People have been suffering from diseases caused by the consumption of contaminated water. The people were eagerly waiting for the arrival of relief materials, by way of food and potable water. Acute hunger and thirst had made the wait look eternal for every villager.
The team, feeling very sorry for their plight, met the people with lot of sympathy and a humanitarian touch. The villagers seemed to understand the purpose of the team’s visit and shared their pain and sufferings with the team. What surprised the team members was the sight of three distinct groups of people physically separated from each other, even in this moment of disaster!
Venkatarao Nadagouda, Sindhanur MLA shared the experiences of the poor people and their future, with Denis D’silva, convener of IFKCA . Denis came up with the suggestion for a stretch of land on which about 300 houses could be built for the homeless people. The MLA promised to make suitable arrangements and provide facilities for this endeavour, at the earliest. In addition to the MLA, former MP of Sindhanur and the Swamiji from Swami Vivekananda Ashram Gadag, vice-president of the zilla panchayat and the assistant commissioner also accompanied the team. The MLA profusely appreciated the team’s efforts towards alleviating the sufferings of these people.
Along with the Fr Eric, the team travelled by a tractor to Chinthmandoddi village, where the team members saw that this village with 150 families had been ravaged and over 300 heads of cattle had been swept away in the flood. The people here too, slept by the roadside.
At the fag end of the first day of the visit, the team went to Devipura in the evening, where they found Bethany Sisters, who had already camped in the village and were seen administering medicines to the sick members of the place.
With the help of different organizations and the support of several individuals from the city, the team sponsored two truck-loads of rice, vessels, medicines, cosmetics, blankets, mats and clothes.
The team consisted of 17 members, Denis D’silva, Joseph M Lobo, Alwyn, Stanly, Linto Francis, Nelson Raj, Vinod, Arun Ajekar, Prashanth, Darshan, Sunil, Tejpaul, Inasappa, Juliana Alphonsa, Sr Anseline, Sr Prema and Sr Juliana from the Bethany Congregation.
The team also thanked Ronald Colaco, president of IFKCA, who had sponsored all the transportation, travelling and food expenses. The team will continue to work at this and the nearby areas for the next few days to support the people, especially for rebuilding their houses and providing shelter to those who have lost them.